A Hard Decision to Make
by annam8td
Summary: Plagued by a difficult decision, Saturn Girl is offered advice from other members of the Legion. lame summary I'm sorry
1. The Situation

[A/N: This is a random idea what I had, and hopefully it translates well using Legion of Superhero characters. I'm not 100% on the personality traits of the characters I'm using, so feel free to let me know if I'm way off base. I own nothing. Reviews are always appreciated. Enjoy!]

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A sleep deprived Saturn Girl reluctantly awakens as the sun's rays illuminate her bedroom, shining through the windows that make up her bedroom wall. She rubs her sore red eyes, contemplates going back to sleep. The head ache that accompanies the sunlight alerts her of her lack of sleep, and reminds her of the day before. ..

After dealing with universal affairs of all sorts side by side for years, she and Lightning Lad decided to explore their budding relationship, and after spending a sunny afternoon picnicking in the park with him, the two returned to Legion HQ only to be summoned by Cosmic Boy. Initially, the two found it strange that their companion and fellow cofounder of the Legion of Super Heroes would summon them as though he were superior to them, they entered the conference room. Immediately the tone of the day had changed from sunny and upbeat to dismal and tense as Cosmic Boy began reciting Legion regulations which he interpreted to mean that there is to be no dating between members of the Legion, and that any relationships stemming beyond the bonds of teamwork and friendship would provide grounds for dismissal from the Legion. While Saturn Girl sat at the table and allowed Cosmic Boy to vent his feelings, it was clear that Lightning Lad had had enough of his comrade's superiority complex.

"This is ridiculous Rokk," Lightning Lad interrupted Cosmic Boy and his pacing from side to side as he recited codes of conduct. "What's ridiculous Garth?" Cosmic Boy countered. "The fact that I remember the guidelines which you, Imra and I wrote when we founded the Legion? Or the fact that you two seem to have forgotten them?" Cosmic Boy narrowed his eyes at Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad , who placed a hand around hers, a reassuring gesture which Saturn Girl didn't think will hold true to its promise. "I'm referring to your superior attitude, as well as your jealousy," Garth states calmly. Cosmic Boy's eyes widened, and Garth knew he had shocked a nerve in his teammate. The tension in the room rose, and Saturn Girl stiffened in her chair.

"Jealousy?" Cosmic Boy squawked. "What is there for me to be jealous of? You're the one's breaking the Code of Conduct." Garth snickered. "Don't play dumb, Rokk. It's plain to everyone in this room—to every member of the Legion—that you're _jealous_ of me." Saturn Girl observed the nonverbal standoff between her two cofounders; Garth sat back in his chair, his hand still clutching hers, his eyes dared Rokk to do something about their evident attraction and budding relationship. Rokk remained standing, staring daggers into the red-headed youth and the silent blonde. "Why on Earth would I be jealous of _you_?" Cosmic Boy asked through clenched teeth. "Don't play dumb," Lightning Lad said. "Your jealousy stems from the fact that Saturn Girl chose me over you." "Don't mind me," Saturn Girl muttered, pulling her hand away from Garth. "Pretend I'm not even here."

"That's preposterous!" Cosmic Boy clenched his fists. From there he and Lightning Lad had words, and continued to talk about Saturn Girl as though she weren't in the room at all. She thought of all sorts of ways to escape the tension; she could storm out and make as big of a scene as the two boys, though that option didn't seem too likely to occur, she could put herself in some form of mental trance to avoid hearing the argument, though that would require more effort than she could muster at the moment, or she could try to reason with the two. While reasoning seemed like the best solution at the time, Saturn Girl chose to say nothing, stare off into space (figuratively as there were no windows in the conference room) and let the two resolve their issues. After going in circles for what seemed like hours, the two boys finally came up with a solution—or at least what they considered a solution. When the two finally chose to include Saturn Girl in their argument, it was anything but calm and collected.

"You have to choose, Imra," Cosmic Boy firmly stated. "Choose?" she asked, "What do you mean?" "Choose between Garth or me," he explains. "We'll respect your decision. If you choose me, then Garth will resign from the Legion. Likewise I'll do the same if you choose him. " "Now _this_ is ridiculous," Saturn Girl sighed heavily. "Why can't you two just come to some form of agreement without me?" "Because," Lightning Lad interjected, "we want you to be the one to decide."

"So you're putting me on the spot? Leaving what seems to be the fate of the Legion up to me?" Angered by the situation, Saturn Girl pushed herself away from the table and prepared to storm out of the room. "We can't decide for you, Im," Lightning Lad explains, resting a hand on her shoulder. "And even though I think you can make your choice easily" he winks, "you should take some time to figure it out." Imra shrugged his hand off of her shoulder, and walked out of the room, stunned by what had just happened. She shrugged and leaned against the wall, shaking her head as it rests in her palm. "Do I really have to do this?" she asked aloud. Nobody answered her, though she knew that this was something that Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy would need in order to end their spat. After composing herself, as well as feeling all of the energy in her body leave her, she walked warily back to her bedroom to think.


	2. Tea and Pizza

On her way to her bedroom, Saturn Girl stopped off in the kitchen to grab some tea. Normally she would only drink tea to rejuvenate after a long and tedious mission, but desperate times call for desperate exceptions, and she felt the need to rejuvenate herself after the ordeal in the conference room. "Hey Imra!" Phantom Girl greeted from one of the small tables in the kitchen. Saturn Girl turned to see Phantom Girl and Timberwolf sitting at the same table, sitting rather closely and splitting a pizza. "Hey Tinya," Saturn Girl greeted unenthusiastically. "Tea? You're drinking tea during the day?" Tinya observed nervously. "What's wrong?" Phantom Girl, never one to respect personal space—especially that of a telepath—stood uncomfortably close to the blonde girl, practically resting her head on Saturn Girl's shoulder. Imra struggled to find a way to explain the terrible ordeal ahead of her, but it was simply too exhausting. "I just have a lot on my mind," she sighed heavily.

"That's not good for someone with your brain power," Phantom Girl stated matter-of-factly. "Why don't you sit with Brin and me and we'll help you think?" Saturn Girl contemplated the offer, and reluctantly accepted, and after making her tea, took a seat alongside Phantom Girl and Timberwolf. "So what's on your mind?" Timberwolf asked. He offered Imra a slice of pizza, which she politely declined. "Just tension between Garth and Rokk," she stated after taking a sip of her tea. Phantom Girl and Timberwolf shared a glance, and smirked. "Did they argue about you?" Brin asked, and Saturn Girl nodded. "It was bound to come out one day," Tinya stated, crossing her arms. Saturn Girl explained that she never noticed that Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy felt this way, and that she never thought anything like this would happen. "And no matter what I choose, someone is going to leave." "That's rough," Timberwolf blankly stated. "So what do you think you're gonna do?" Imra shook her head and shrugged, signaling that she had absolutely no idea.

"Any advice?" she asked, hoping for direction. Timberwolf shook his head, claiming that the whole situation was too complicated for him. "I think you should listen to your heart, and then think with your head," Phantom Girl offered. "Make the decision that will make you happy, and then deal with everything else afterwards." Timberwolf left the table to go work out, and Phantom promised to be right along. When the boy was out of the kitchen, Phantom Girl hugged her troubled comrade. "Whatever decision you make, I'm sure it'll be right for you," she said before departing. Imra sat alone at the table and drank her tea, feeling no closer to coming up a solution to her dilemma.

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A/N: I've noticed the common element of tea throughout my fics, which is strange because I'm not that big of a fan of the stuff XP And normally I wouldn't let characters like this seem so timid and uncertain, but I figured it was befitting to the situation. By no means do I think that a girl cannot make a complicated decision on her own.]


	3. Three Very Different Perspectives

After she contemplated Phantom Girl's advice silently in the kitchen for a few minutes, Saturn Girl figured this problem would probably have an answer sooner if she went to her room. While en route to her room, Saturn Girl finds Triplicate Girl—her sum rather than three parts—and Bouncing Boy sitting together in one of the many common rooms. Triplicate Girl giggled at the joke Bouncing Boy relayed, and laughed harder as the joke reached its punch line. While walking past the large entry way, Bouncing Boy caught a glimpse of his blonde teammate, and asked her to join them. "You look a little down, Sat," he said as he patted the spot on the couch between him and Triplicate Girl. With a sigh, Saturn Girl sat—or rather flopped upright—on the couch. "I guess you could say that," she said, leaning her head back on the edge of the couch.

"I thought you went on a picnic with Garth," Triplicate Girl added, "How can something so fun make you feel "down"?". Staring up at the high, gray ceiling, Imra shook her head. "The picnic was great, but I can't say the same about things when we came back."

"Oh yeah Cosmic Boy wanted to talk to you two about something," Bouncing Boy remembered. "What was that about? Some sort of founder's meeting?" Once again, Saturn Girl did not want to push her problems onto her comrades, especially those who were in such chipper spirits. Though the prospects of receiving more advice from those who were closest to her, Lightning Lad, and Cosmic Boy seemed up, Saturn Girl just couldn't bring herself to describe her situation, and sat silent, her head tilted back to look at the ceiling. The other two Legionnaires sitting on the couch shifted in the silence.

"Hey BB," Triplicate Girl said, breaking the silence, "Weren't you telling me about some really funny article you read earlier?" "Oh yeah," BB said, his voice sounded as though he had had some pivotal revelation. "Well, why don't you go grab it so I can read it?" Trip suggested. "And take your time, there's no need to bounce through the halls to get it." A moment of silent confusion was followed by realization for Bouncing Boy. He cautiously stood from the couch and rushed out of the room, his footsteps slowed down when he reached the hallway.

"Alright girl, the room's all clear. So dish," Triplicate Girl said, moving from the couch to the single-seating chair positioned to the left of the couch. "And feel free to lay down on this couch like a patient in a psychologist's office would," she recommended, giggling at the idea of a telepath in a psychologists office. Saturn Girl rested her head on the arm of the couch closest to Triplicate Girl, suddenly feeling very tired. With a deep breath, she summed up the conversation between she, Garth and Rokk. "So now I'm stuck in this terrible position, and I'm trying to give this some serious thought so I can find a solution," she concluded, taking a deep breath as though she had relayed her story for several hours rather than in a few minutes.

"Hmmm," Triplicate Girl responded, tapping her finger on her lower lip in thought. "So which part is more difficult? The part about you choosing between two guys, or the part about the one you don't choose leaving the Legion?" Having never thought of the situation in those terms, Saturn Girl shrugs. "They're both pretty difficult," she admitted. "Tinya thinks I should put my thoughts ahead of the Legion, and let the cards fall where they may. I'm not 100% sure on my decision between Garth and Rokk, to be honest, so I guess that's the first hurdle I have to overcome in this whole decision-making process."

"Well now, that's something we can help you with," Triplicate Girl said, her voice tripling in volume, and her slender frame tripling in number. Rather than one orange, purple and white-clad teen hero working with Saturn Girl to solve her problem, there were several; one teenage girl dressed in an all-white ensemble, one in all-purple, and one clad solely in orange lending a helping hand.

"First thing to consider," the orange-clad heroin decreed, positioning herself in her chair. "Who you get along with better." Saturn Girl raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Do you enjoy spending more time with Lightning or Cosmic?" Orange clarified. Imra sighed, said she liked them both. "Over the past few weeks though, Garth and I have spent a lot of time together, really gotten to know each other. He's a really sweet guy—when he's not trying to electrocute anyone, I mean." The orange triplet inquired about Cosmic Boy. "Rokk used to be easy going, someone I could stand to be around. But lately," Saturn shrugged, "he's been so rigid. Not someone I really wanted to be around. So, I guess I like to spend more time with Garth."

"Well then there's one point for Lightning Lad," the white triplet decreed, positioning herself comfortably on edge of the sofa. Saturn Girl had to agree; talking to Triplet's triplets break down the situation was making things easier. "Now here's another aspect," she announced, "who do you prefer to fight alongside?" Saturn Girl weighed the pros and cons of each teammate. Garth was rash, hot-headed, and forceful. Rokk was more strategical, every action he made was carefully calculated. Garth's methods suited him, whereas Rokk's methods were best suited for all members of the Legion. "I guess Cosmic Boy is easier to fight alongside," Satun Girl said. "Garth: 1, Rokk: 1," the white-clad heroin shrugs alongside Saturn Girl's heavy sigh. She and her orange look-alike stared at the purple versions of themselves, hoping she would be the tie breaker.

"Alright. Now for the tie breaker: who has the better body?" Saturn Girl stared at the purple-suited girl, stunned that _that_ was the tie breaker. "Seriously," Purple defended, "who would you rather look at all day?" Imra sat up on the couch, having had enough. Orange decided on Lightning Lad, whereas White cast her vote to Cosmic Boy. Purple seemed torn between the two, and the three girls we so engrossed by their conversation that they hardly noticed Saturn Girl get up from the couch and walk out of the room. She could still hear the giggling and talk of  
"Rokk-hard abs" as well as "Shockingly-toned muscles," as she wandered down the hall.


	4. The Opinions of Others

While walking down the halls of the Legion, Saturn Girl passed the entrance to her room on multiple occasions, debating whether or not she was ready to make this hard decision on her own, or whether she should continue to seek advice and input from other Legionnaires. She could hear others talking over her predicament as she walked; she overheard Brainy typing away at his computer, talking to himself about the uselessness of emotions, how they only interfere with that which is important. She heard Chameleon Boy arguing with Shrinking Violet, claiming that "Imra should choose Garth over Rokk", while Violet rallied behind Rokk. This situation was out in the open, much to Saturn Girl's dismay. She avoided her room once more, and chose to contemplate somewhere she felt would be quiet and solitary at this very moment: the hanger.

Her eyes fixed on the ground, Saturn Girl collided with a large, muscular figure upon walking through the large, metal doors. She murmured an apology, and looked up to find a stone-faced Kel-el in front of her, his black eyes and golden irises glaring—though to be fair, this was his typical demeanor. "Are you here to work on the ship?" he asked gruffly, looking over his shoulder at the large spacecraft. Saturn Girl shook her blonde head, "Just came to clear my mind." Kel-el continued to glare, saying "Go do that somewhere else," and "I don't care," without using words. "I guess I'll go elsewhere," she muttered, turning on her heel. "The opinions of others don't matter," he says as she walked out of the hanger. "Make the decision which benefits you."

After taking in the unsolicited advice, Saturn Girl makes her way back to her bedroom to think in solitude.

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A/N: short i'm sorry!


	5. May the Best Man Win

A/N: Now that I've updated one fic, I figured it would only be fair to finish a short chapter fic. I think I'll have more time to work on fics, but all the same I ask that nobody get their hopes up (if you care that much, that is). So here is the finale chapter!

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Rubbing her eyes more, Saturn Girl realizes that there is no time but the present to share the decision. Having been up all night thinking, meditating, debating, pacing, writing lists, and drawing too many comparison diagrams to count, and resting for a grand total of 30 minutes, she walks out of her room. Blonde hair thrown in a messy ponytail on the top of her head, clad in pink and white pajamas, and dark circles underlining her eyes, Saturn Girl walks to the conference room. Legionnaires whom she passed whisper to one another, but at the moment Saturn Girl can only focus on her decision, which she had made only minutes before.

Once arriving in the conference room, Saturn Girl calls Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy to her via the intercom. She props her head in her hands and she waits, stifling a yawn. The two guys walk in, bodies tense, faces confident. "I didn't think it would take you this long to make your decision, Imra," Lightning Lad says, his voice shaken. Cosmic Boy opens his mouth to make a snappy comment towards his "competitor"—for lack of a better term—but Saturn Girl raises her hand and motions for them both to take their seats at the large table.

"You asked me—rather, you _forced_ me to make a decision," she reminds them, her tone similar to that of a mother scolding wild children. "And I did." Rokk and Garth sat back in their chairs, awaiting her choice. "After taking in what other Legionnaires have told me, I choose…" She pauses to yawn, rather than for dramatic effect, "to continue my relationship with Garth." Lightning Lad gives Cosmic Boy a smug look, and both prepare to leave the room. "I'm not done," she barks. Feeling as though they have been scolded, the two sit back in their seats.

"Here's how I see things," Imra says, her voice inflecting as she yawns. "You two gave me an ultimatum, which was unnecessary and embarrassing. I couldn't sleep knowing I was being forced to decide between my connections to you." She glares at the two, her dark-rimmed eyes adding to her visual anger and discomfort. "Since you two put me in that position, I'm going to give you an ultimatum: Either you two learn to coexist as members of the Legion even though I have chosen to have feelings for Garth, than I'm going to leave." She shifts her glare towards Cosmic Boy. "You said that when I made my decision, the guy I didn't choose would have to leave, but that's ludicrous. It's clear that the Legion needs you both—that _I_ need you both; as teammates, as friends, as fellow founders of the Legion." Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad shift in their chairs awkwardly. "So now that I've made myself perfectly clear, I'm going to catch up on the sleep which I was denied."

Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy stand; Lightning Lad hugs Imra good-night, kisses her on the temple. Cosmic Boy tries to hide his discomfort, though Saturn Girl catches him in the act. After touching his arm in an attempt to apologize, the conference room door opens, and the three find the entire Legion of Super Heroes standing and staring inward. All are stunned; had the entire legion been standing outside, trying to hear the conversation? Had they heard any of it? Not wanting to waste any mental effort on telepathy, Saturn Girl walks through the crowd towards her bedroom. The crowd splits like the red sea as she and her two companions silently leave the conference room

As she walks through the crowd, Saturn Girl catches a glimpse of Triplet Girl, who gives her thumbs up. Saturn Girl reciprocates, and she gives a small smile when her eyes meet Phantom Girl's. Saturn also catches a glimpse of Kel-el, standing against a wall; he stares at the ground with his arms crossed, appearing as though he does not care about the conversation that took place in the conference room. Little does Kel-el know that his advice weighed the most when Imra was making her decision.

Once in her bedroom, Saturn Girl flops down on her bed, shuts her eyes, and catches up on the sleep which had eluded her the night before. Elsewhere, Rokk and Garth sit awkwardly in one of the Legion's many recreation rooms. "So, she actually chose you," a defeated Rokk says. "I'm just as shocked as you are," Garth admits, putting his feat up on the table. "I mean, I'm totally glad she wants to keep seeing me, but I expected her to choose neither of us." Garth shifts, staring at Rokk. "So now that she's made her decision, what are you gonna do?" Rokk shrugs. "Seeing as how we did put her in an awkward position, I think it would only be fair to honor her wishes and have me stick around as a member of the Legion."

"You just wanna stick around in case she changes her mind," Garth smirks. Rokk smirks in response, "We all know you'll do something to screw this up, and when you do, I'll be there." "Trust me, I'm not gonna screw up," Garth declares, "so it looks like you're gonna be pining for a long time." "Who says I'll be pining?" Rokk asks. "I'll be actively pursuing her, in my own way."

"May the best man win," Garth announces, making a gun with his fingers, pulling the imaginary trigger as though starting a race.


End file.
